TWO STUCK ASTRONAUTS TO COME BACK IN FEB

SpaceX to the rescue as NASA announces the private space company owned by Elon Musk will rescue two of its astronauts.

When astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry Wilmore left for an eight-day mission to the International Space Station (ISS), no one could’ve imagined that it would take over eight months to bring them back to Earth.

So, how did they get stuck? On its way to the ISS, the rocket ship in which they were travelling, the Starliner, experienced several problems. This included various thrusters not working properly, and leaking helium.

The BBC reports that engineers at Boeing and NASA have spent months trying to understand the technical issues with the Starliner craft. They’ve been carrying out tests and gathering data, both in space and back on Earth. They hoped to pin down the root of the problems and find a way to return the astronauts home safely on Starliner.

The SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft is in its final stages of development while lift-off has been planned for the end of September.

It was meant to have four astronauts onboard, but now it’ll leave with two astronauts on board to allow space for Williams and Wilmore.

Image credit: NASA